Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I'm sure this question has been answered, so please forgive redundancy. I have a 4-ft wide HF trailer, but want to build a 5-ft wide teardrop. I'm very new here, so I hope someone can direct me to an answer that's already been posted, or give me some advice.


Many thanks!
Yesdog

yesdog wrote:I'm sure this question has been answered, so please forgive redundancy. I have a 4-ft wide HF trailer, but want to build a 5-ft wide teardrop. I'm very new here, so I hope someone can direct me to an answer that's already been posted, or give me some advice.


Many thanks!
Yesdog

No problem, build your deck out to be 5 foot wide. You end up putting the tires in built wheel wells and don't need fenders. Your choice to elevate the deck enough so that the wheel wells don't go through the deck into the living area a couple inches or not.

Check, the hall of fame for any pictures with the wheels tucked into the side of the teardrop. Then check the build log for those. Lots of examples.

Here is a couple

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.221155064607187.53355.190018881054139&type=3

http://www.tnttt.com/gallery/album.php?album_id=1001

You can do anything you put your mind to!

But yes, you can build 5' wide on a 4' trailer. The trick is that you just have to build up over the wheels.

And you have a few options for that. I wanted a completely flat cabin floor (no wheel wells inside), so I used 2x4's as the floor framing, and then 1/2" plywood deck. This gave me about 2-1/4" from the top of the tire to the underside of the floor. Its not much, but I haven't had any issues. The side walls were then hung from the ends of the 2x4 floor framing.



On my friends build we wanted to save some weight, so he opted to rip down the 2x4's from 3-1/2" tall to only 2" tall. Again we used 1/2" plywood deck, but since we had a lower cabin floor we had to build small wheel wells to maintain clearance. Once he put his 4" mattress in, you can't tell that the wheel wells are even there since they are so small. However, his wheel wells are partially located in his galley, which with the dropped floor they are a bit taller back there.



We did not use the stock fenders in either of our builds. The wheel wells are just plywood coated with many coats of an asphalt-based fence post and foundation coating. You'll notice that on both of our builds, instead of building the subfloor framing over the entire length of the trailer, we put the galley floor right on the trailer frame. This just gives you additional height allowance in the finished galley.

We were kinda talking about this in this Post.

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=57269



Happy Trails

Len

yesdog:
One issue with Zach/absolutsnwbrdr's first method (from the X-II) is you lose the interior cabin height since the sidewall must extend to the galley floor or even lower (to the level of the tongue) if you extend the cabin over the tongue (forward of where Zach has the clamp in his first photo). I'm trying to plan a trailer using the same idea, and I'm leaning towards doing a trolley-top to make up for the lost ~6" (3.5" for the 2x4s lifting the bed off the frame, ~2" from the trailer frame down to the tongue) of interior height.

Kharn wrote:yesdog:
One issue with Zach/absolutsnwbrdr's first method (from the X-II) is you lose the interior cabin height since the sidewall must extend to the galley floor or even lower (to the level of the tongue) if you extend the cabin over the tongue (forward of where Zach has the clamp in his first photo). I'm trying to plan a trailer using the same idea, and I'm leaning towards doing a trolley-top to make up for the lost ~6" (3.5" for the 2x4s lifting the bed off the frame, ~2" from the trailer frame down to the tongue) of interior height.

Thanks for mentioning that John.

If you plan on a simple build using 4' wide plywood sides, then raising the floor does reduce the headroom. And building a trolley-top can solve that issue.

Thanks Guys! Good information!!

Yesdog

len19070 wrote:We were kinda talking about this in this Post.

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=57269



Happy Trails

Len

one awesome build man can I get the plans..... love the aweing also

campwithme wrote:

len19070 wrote:We were kinda talking about this in this Post.

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=57269



Happy Trails

Len

one awesome build man can I get the plans..... love the awning also

I've built quite a few with little more than a sketch on a piece of paper.

After doing it like this for so many years....the truth is, I probably couldn't use or read a plan!



Theres the Plans...Honest!

Happy Trails

Len

Len, what's that skinned with?

charlescranfill wrote:Len, what's that skinned with?

Something I've been doing with Aluminum for a while now.

http://serroscottycamperenthusiasts.com ... IDING.html

There are 2 additional things I do now that I didn't do when this tutorial was made.

1.) I use the Brake metal thats used for making continuous "K" gutters. Ya can't get it at Home Depot. Ya have to go to a regular Roofing & Siding distributor. Still available Locally and its a bit thicker.

2.) I ad a layer of packing Styrofoam to the back of the siding. It stiffens it, resists dents and does ad a "smidgen" of insulation.





2 rolls of Aluminum @ $90= $180 (+ Brake rental @ $50, if needed)

Happy Trails

Len

I had my axle cut in half and extended it a foot using a sleeve. My axle was 1.5'' solid steel and is now 2'', the sleeve is the full length of the axle. Thanks to my welding friend it all cost me a case of beer.

andreuther wrote:I had my axle cut in half and extended it a foot using a sleeve. My axle was 1.5'' solid steel and is now 2'', the sleeve is the full length of the axle. Thanks to my welding friend it all cost me a case of beer.

Did you take any photos to document the process? I've been planning to do the same, after I become semi-skilled at welding. Of course, my first love is the bolt-together process, so it will also be utilized. I did a search on the forum for any sleeved axles, and only found this one, which isn't really a sleeve over the axle, but a solid rod inserted/welded into the tubing, My axle is 1.25" or 1.5" square tube (either one?, I don't know- measures @ 1.375"- I don't think they make that size). Either way, even though the axle bearings and hubs have been upgraded to bigger ones, capable of 2000lbs (according to the trailer supply house), I don't trust the probably weakened (sat in a composted area for 18 years) square tube between them. My friend that welded the trailer additions, and has built several trailers before, bought the changeover hub/bearings and checked the stubs for weld quality and trueness. He said the axle would be strong enough for 1000lbs, my goal, at least. Now exceeded at 1475lbs, I'm going to sleeve the tubing, all the way from one stub to the other, and weld/bolt it where needed, and put new spring/axle clamps on it. The springs are fine, the attaching hardware is new, so I will buy a new axle for the next trailer, not this one. Pictures of the proper process would help me on this one, which I'll do in a coupla months. (of course, I've already sourced a new axle for this one, just in case) !